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Sun Machines
Solar, an energy source that gets cheaper and cheaper, is going to be huge
Buying and installing solar panels is currently the largest single category of investment in electricity generation, according to the International Energy Agency (iea), an intergovernmental think-tank: it expects $500bn this year, not far short of the sum being put into upstream oil and gas. Though covering tracts of arable countryside with them upsets some people in some places, by and large solar panels are popular: research finds they enjoy more “social licence” than any other form of energy generation, be it renewable, fossil-fuel or nuclear. Dr Carlson describes a utility-boss’s jaw hitting the floor when he proposed that, instead of a multi-decade planning battle to build a high-voltage transmission line, SunTrain could meet the utility’s power-import needs with a couple of trains a day.
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